Tobago, the laid-back sister island to bustling, industrial Trinidad, stretches just 26 miles long by 7 miles wide, with a single mountain range running through its center. The island’s highest point, 1,800-foot Pigeon Peak, anchors the oldest nature reserve in the western hemisphere, founded in 1765. Tobago was the home of Daniel Dafoe’s “Robinson Crusoe,” published in 1719. Covered in rainforest around the eastern tip, and blessed with a scattering of offshore islets, Tobago has emerged as one of the Caribbean's eco-tourism hot spots, winning a World Travel Award to that effect in 2005.
Background
- A handful of international carriers fly directly to Tobago; otherwise, LIAT’s inter-island service connects to neighboring Trinidad. Tobago packs an astonishing 200 bird species in just 116 square miles, while the underwater shoreline nurtures more than 300 species of South Atlantic coral and some 600 species of fish. In short, the island is a birdwatchers’ and snorkeling paradise, while drift divers will relish the opportunity to swim with rays and sharks.
Birdwatching
- Over half the island’s bird population has set up home in the Main Ridge Forest Reserve, where Tobago Blue-backed Manakin, Hummingbird, Jacamar, Woodcreeper, and the Cocrico, one of Tobago’s national birds, all thrive. The best marked trail is the Gilpin Trace off the Roxborough to Bloody Bay road. Frommer’s recommends taking a five-hour nature tour with Newton George, former custodian of Little Tobago and a forestry department veteran, through the island’s lush fauna. You can visit Little Tobago from Speyside by taking a ride with a local fisherman, with a journey time of approximately 20 minutes. The island is a bird sanctuary that saved many endangered species from New Guinea. Marked trails cover the dry, rugged island.
Accommodation
- On a former cocoa plantation, and 3 miles from the nearest village, Cuffie River Nature Retreat in Runnemede Valley is a peaceful haven among the wild heliconias and bamboo groves. A former winner of "Caribbean Travel + Life" Best Eco Resort award, the retreat has a 640-square foot elevated pool and organizes guided rainforest tours that stop off for a dip in a waterfall. Near the island’s southwest tip, and the airport, Kariwak Village is a Buddhist meditation and yoga retreat with 18 cabanas, thatched roof Ajoupas and a 2-acre garden.
Reserves
- The Adventure Farm and Nature Reserve near Plymouth sits on 12 acres and includes a charming collection of birds, butterflies and iguanas. Many rainforest tours end up with a trip to the farm to catch the hummingbirds or photograph more than 50 species of birds in comfort. Grafton Caledonia Bird Sanctuary is on a former cocoa estate near Black Rock that is surrounded by hiking trails, with no admission charge. Come at 4 p.m. to witness the bird feeding at the Copra House.
